Tag: skill acquisition

Categories
Positive Outliers

Are we developing our critical skills the right way?

A Skill Acquisition Model

When I began writing Leading Yourself, the working title I started with was “The Soul of Personal Mastery.” ‘Personal Mastery’ is a term much-loved in leadership academies, so I explored the idea of mastery. ‘Mastery’ has some negative connotations, so I backed off from it as the central label and moved to the concept of self-leadership.

However, my research returned me to the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition, something that was referenced by the APM’s L&D team at one of their training providers’ away days. It appears that we may be investing in the wrong kind of learning solutions for some skill levels, and perhaps under-emphasising other kinds of solutions.

I’ve just uploaded this video on the Dreyfus Skill Acquisition Model and how it can be applied to any skill.

The illustration I use is the skill of riding a bicycle, and how that develops. I remember a dear friend and colleague, Eddie Borup, explaining the “wobbly bike scale” to me years ago. It all now fits. (I’m a slow learner.)

However, the traditional emphasis on face-to-face classroom training is now wearing thin. Classroom training is great for moving novices to advanced practitioners, and even moving advanced practitioners to proficiency. I and my colleagues love the energizing experience of the live classroom. But is it always the right solution?

Is information-based classroom training always the right solution for developing key skills?
Click to Tweet

I believe we are under-valuing other less obvious but powerful solutions. Also, organizations set their expectations so low that all they see in terms of skill are levels two and three. Experts and masters are too hard to find.

Question: What is your experience of learning solutions or training you have received that really challenges you to greater skill levels?

The Seven Keys to Exceptional Work
The Seven Keys eBook

The Seven Keys eBook

Revealing the Seven Key Areas that High Performers Pay Attention

Categories
Positive Outliers

How much breakthrough skill do you really have?

How do you become more skilled?

Have you ever wondered whether your efforts at self-development are really paying off? Do you sometimes feel like you are just treading water in getting better at your job? How we really get better at something is a critical issue of time, money and effectiveness.

How we get better at some things, becomes a critical issue or time, money and our effectiveness.
Click to Tweet

For years now I have been a student of how we truly progress in skill… in anything.

In particular, I’ve looked at these skill sets:

  • communications skills,
  • the skill of leading people through big changes, and
  • the skill of working on my own personal organization in the face of sometimes seemingly overwhelming busyness.
The Seven Keys to Exceptional Work
The Seven Keys eBook

The Seven Keys eBook

Revealing the Seven Key Areas that High Performers Pay Attention

One professional accreditation body that I have worked with is the Association for Project Management(APM), the UK’s IPMA professional body. The APM has put a good deal of work into recognizing skill in the field of project management. News broke last week that the APM is finally progressing towards Chartered Status. This means that if you gained APM’s Registered Project Professional (RPP) qualification, as a few of my clients have through my company, pearcemayfield, then you soon may be able to call yourself a Chartered Project Manager.

I like the way APM have designed and graduated their qualifications. Much of this is built on their Competence Framework. However, there are a number of practical challenges in using the whole Competence Framework as it stands. With our clients, we tailor this Framework quite heavily. But there is another reason why we look for a simpler, more general pattern of development.

When I was attending one of their approved training organization events, a member of APM’s L&D team told me that the

A Skill Acquisition Model

In my latest book, Click here for a paper on skill acquisition and growing in self-leadership.

We must move beyond tick-box assessments for professional skills and competence.
Click to Tweet

I commend the APM. I believe they have got this broadly right. We must move beyond mere tick-box assessment to prove our skill progression, in project management as in other areas such as being able to influence and lead stakeholders through effective change, and in our personal ability to manage ourselves.